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Why get the Deluxe Beverage Package when one is Diamond Plus?


Marc

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I noticed during one of Matt's recent livestreams that he held up his Seapass card and on there I noticed that he had the Deluxe package.

Since Royal Caribbean started the drink voucher thing, hubby and I now each get 5 drinks. We did the math, and for the two of us, the math just doesn't work out that we could get 11-12 drinks per day (and that's assuming they're all alcoholic). Now, if it were just me, I could probably swing it as I drink more than my husband, but since it's a both or neither thing, it just doesn't work out. (I am getting the soda package as I can definitely take advantage of that, and I do like the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.)

So, now I'm curious about others, including @Matt since this question his his fault (😇), how has the Diamond or higher vouchers changed one's calculus to get the Deluxe Beverage Package. For us, now we can save several hundred dollars per week-long cruise by paying a la carte for the cheap, non-alcoholic drinks during the day and getting (mostly) free alcoholic drinks in the evenings. Thanks, Royal Caribbean! 😉

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I'm going to try this out for my trip on March 26th 8 day cruise. I have always got the drink package, but now a diamond member, I'm going to see if it worth it or not. The package for my wife and I was going to be $1250 for both with gratuities. I plan on drinking the same as always and will see what total bill is at end of cruise. I'm not into special coffee's or fresh juices, so it will be mainly drinks and water. But by my calculations, I would need to drink 9 a day (4 free and 5 for package) to break even. Days at see I can see doing that, but the 3 island stops, not so much. But I will have fun trying and will let you know how it came out.

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17 minutes ago, Swar said:

Throw in Prime and you really do not need the UDP.

I don't think I really thought about Prime offering drinks. I've been Signature forever it seems (well, the pandemic has really stretched this tier out far longer than what it should have based on my actual play), and I remember that comped drinks was a perk specifically only for invited casino guests in the early days. (I think one had to earn something like 2,000 points on one sailing to get invited, and once in, one stayed in.)

These days, I don't even go into the casino much. On Oasis, the only time we went in was to play the $500 in free play we had gotten for that sailing. We turned the free play into $540 cash.

I'll note that we actually only paid a total of $422.90 for that cruise — comped JS upgraded to GS. Thus, Casino Royale paid us $117 for us to sail that week.

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This has been a very busy topic.

As an experiment, this will be our first cruise without buying the Deluxe Beverage Packages.

My Diamond status gets me 4-drinks per day, and my Prime status in the casino gets me unlimited drinks.  That sounds like a lot, but on a port day, with the casino closed, 4-drinks could be used up long before dinner time.  My Wife doesn't drink, so I get her 4 free drinks also.

If that's not enough, I can buy extra drinks and still save money over the $69 per day x2, since I'm required to buy the package for both of us in the same cabin.🥃

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1 hour ago, Marc said:

I noticed during one of Matt's recent livestreams that he held up his Seapass card and on there I noticed that he had the Deluxe package.

Since Royal Caribbean started the drink voucher thing, hubby and I now each get 5 drinks. We did the math, and for the two of us, the math just doesn't work out that we could get 11-12 drinks per day (and that's assuming they're all alcoholic). Now, if it were just me, I could probably swing it as I drink more than my husband, but since it's a both or neither thing, it just doesn't work out. (I am getting the soda package as I can definitely take advantage of that, and I do like the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.)

So, now I'm curious about others, including @Matt since this question his his fault (😇), how has the Diamond or higher vouchers changed one's calculus to get the Deluxe Beverage Package. For us, now we can save several hundred dollars per week-long cruise by paying a la carte for the cheap, non-alcoholic drinks during the day and getting (mostly) free alcoholic drinks in the evenings. Thanks, Royal Caribbean! 😉

I suggested in a different post our plans as we just arrived at Diamond Plus.  We have the RCL Visa card and used it almost exclusively to gain reward points.  We are redeeming these points to get on board credit.  We will use the 5 drinks each and if necessary, order other drinks ala carte, against the OBC.

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Long before the shutdown when I first made Diamond I stopped buying the drink package on most sailings.  I would purchase a few beverages during the day and then during happy I would drink happy hour drinks.  I called my hybrid drink plan.  Even if i spent $20 - $30 on purchased drinks (back then) after a few happy hour evening drinks that was enough.  

Fast forward to today and the any time, any bar, any drink vouchers and my hybrid drink plan is even more efficient.  I can often go whole cruises now and only buy one or two drinks.  If i use my 50% off two beer/wine vouchers wisely I can go quite far with just my drink vouchers.

I do tip for every drink so there is that cost but given free drinks every day of the cruise that's the least I can do.  

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We’re currently Diamond. Last October we had a 125% OBC from cancelled Covid cruise so we got the package. We have Wonder in 3 weeks with 2 other couples. We bought the package. Caribbean, 3 sea days plus CocoCay….we will put it to good use. 
 

Alaska in May: No. Port Intensive 

Holy Land/Greece in October: No. Port intensive 

We will be Diamond Plus after that and I doubt after Wonder if we’ll buy it again. 

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1 hour ago, GatorCruiser said:

A bunch of quitters in this thread. You can’t drink all day if you don’t start early.!! 🤪

We're Diamond. Last November, 7 night Symphony.  Checked our folio on the last night before going to bed. 164 charged drinks for the 2 of us. Didn't include all the water bottles we would get during the day and the 4 each night. Now that's probably up there with the most we've ever done but DBP has worked in our favor every cruise so far. And you're right @GatorCruiser, gotta start early!🍹🍻

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10 hours ago, Swar said:

Throw in Prime and you really do not need the UDP.

I just became diamond and I’m prime.  I pick up a drink in the casino then head to the show.  I fill my room up with bottle water from the casino.  That leaves my diamond drinks for the casino closed times.  You would have to be a serious drinker to make the drinking package worth it!  

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We have just returned from a 7 night cruise on Granduer. We are not big drinkers but we took the Deluxe drinks package which cost $81 each but on day 1 of cruise the offer was buy one get one half price. We definitely thought this was worth it as we calculated that each round, say 1 beer, 1 cocktail was $18. 2 glasses of wine each with dinner & a few drinks during the day plus bottled water. 2 unexpected days at sea & restricted shore visits due to covid this package well & truly paid for itself. Enjoy the cruise without restricting yourself! 

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We have cruised twice since the advent of the drink voucher system.  We found some middle ground, and purchase the refreshment package when the price is right, and combine that with the D+ coupons is a sweet spot for us. We drink a fair amount of specialty coffee, fresh OJ, and bottled water.

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The DX is a personal thing as far as breaking even goes. I have never gotten the drink pkg on RCG because I usually only drink 3-5 drinks anyways. I drink a few drinks and soda and spend a decent amount of time in the casino. Being D/D+ and Prime is enough for me. I would rather spend that money on something else.

While the casino may be closed on most port days, it's a moot point. The casino is open when we are at PDCC, the only place outside the ship the dx works. If you are drinking on those port days, you are paying out of pocket anyway. The new voucher system really works for people like me. 

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Since the Diamond and D+ after this next cruise along with the Prime for the wife we have abandoned the drink package. Take lots of tip money but the 4 drinks per day for me is fine and not sure what I will do with 5. When I am in the Casino with the wife the waiters always ask me what I want and bring it along with hers without charge so I always seem to have extra😁. She tips well so maybe that is the reason.

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6 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

We have cruised twice since the advent of the drink voucher system.  We found some middle ground, and purchase the refreshment package when the price is right, and combine that with the D+ coupons is a sweet spot for us. We drink a fair amount of specialty coffee, fresh OJ, and bottled water.

I'm looking at this option too.  I think the water bottles (now cans) is a value that most people forget about from the packages.  So saving just the difference between the deluxe and refreshment is still pretty significant and can buy several extra alcoholic drinks per day on top of the vouchers including tips.

I'm also looking at pre-purchasing multiple 24 packs of water as an option since I don't drink anything other than water and alcohol (but I drink A LOT of water).  24 packs are under $1/can even during non-sales on short cruises.  Unfortunately my traveling partner also drinks specialty coffee and soda so it's a little tricky to try and thread the needle.

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6 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

We have cruised twice since the advent of the drink voucher system.  We found some middle ground, and purchase the refreshment package when the price is right, and combine that with the D+ coupons is a sweet spot for us. We drink a fair amount of specialty coffee, fresh OJ, and bottled water.

We are also going this route in November to test it out since we are also specialty coffee and bottled water drinkers. We also like to get bottled powerades to keep in the room. We will be diamond at that point and in a GS, so we want to see if the 4 vouchers and suite lounge happy hour are enough. I have a feeling it will be for me, but DW may want a few more. She will probably either use all the beer coupons since I don't drink it and we will pay for the few extra each day. 

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I’m really glad to see that I’m not alone in my thinking. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something obvious, what with effectively given Royal Caribbean a lot less money. 
 

I used to buy the drink package after seeing two bartenders get fired for giving customers they liked free drinks. Since my friend and I were the beneficiaries, I vowed never to accept a free drink like that and to ensure that wouldn’t happen, I bought the package. I can probably drink enough to make it worthwhile at the older price and maybe even now, but it was more about convenience and personal ethics. 

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1 hour ago, kadmgs said:

We are also going this route in November to test it out since we are also specialty coffee and bottled water drinkers. We also like to get bottled powerades to keep in the room. We will be diamond at that point and in a GS, so we want to see if the 4 vouchers and suite lounge happy hour are enough. I have a feeling it will be for me, but DW may want a few more. She will probably either use all the beer coupons since I don't drink it and we will pay for the few extra each day. 

Beer coupons?  Are those different/separate from the Diamond vouchers?

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My wife and I aren't drinkers,  but we used to get the soda package. I'd get a few Cokes per day but my wife would get 5 or 6 just to "get her moneys worth"

We're diamond now and I'm sailing without it. The quantity per day is more than enough that purchasing the package doesn't make economic sense.

However,  it would be much more convenient to put a tumbler in one of the coke machines instead of going to a bar every time. 

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It’s funny how much this topic gets bandied about and how few people (some do!) just own up to it.  Haha i don’t care and I’m not too proud to say I’m a German Irish catholic, I’m not driving the boat and i am going to have some drinks through the day and enjoy it!  We have no problem justifying the  dbx, esp when so many of the cocktails are $10-$12-$14+ I don’t keep a full bar stocked at home of exotic things I’ll use once every five years, I’m on vacation to try things and splurge!  It’s great.  Especially after taking princess a few times and having a huge bill at the end.

Especially on a cruise with a couple sea days and/or private island stops, Bloody Mary or mimosa or two on the balcony with fruit and toast, coffee or juice, couple bottles of water, then a few beers and cocktails with lunch and through the afternoon, another cocktail or two somewhere before dinner, through dinner, (the dbx discount on wine bottles is also great) then a few more beers or cocktails after dinner and bottles of water again on the way back to the room.  Hitting 10-15 chargeable drinks is not hard at all.  We’ll be diamond soon, but I’ll still be getting dbx on any cruise with sea days or perfect day stops, maybe in a later life when we can take 14 day and transatlantic type voyages I’ll hold off but until then, i have enjoyed @Matt’s advice, love having it paid for on my card and cleared my account months ago, just another part of the whole puzzle that I’m looking forward to!

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I don’t think this thread is about the value of the DBP.  Question is does it STILL have value when you reach Diamond or Diamond+ and have 4-5 free drinks on your seapass.  We reach Diamond in October and I’m not sure we will get the DBP at that point.  Pretty sure 5-6 drinks a day will be enough and paying for 2 per day is much cheaper than buying the package.  The unknown for me is non alcoholic drinks.  Do I want the soda package? The refreshment?     Gonna try to get a sense of that on our March cruise.

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My DX purchase depends on 1 thing

Is @Matt going or not?

Now, for those that have partaken in an official OR unofficial group cruise with @Mattyou know how it goes - breakfast, day drinking, lunch, nap, pre-dinner drink(s), dinner, pub/schooner (multiple shots + drink of choice) THEN Casino (multiple shots and drink of choice). On a sea day, probably 12-15 drinks, port days, 8-10 not counting waters/soda. For me, getting the DX is very worth it as I usually end up saving money. 

Now, if it's just me, I'll get the Refreshment package and be ok. 

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I'm taking a points run cruise this May to get DW and I to Diamond. 100% unquestioned that I'll have the DBX for that.

For next year's 9-night cruise once we're Diamond, we won't be getting it (it's part of the justification to take the points run cruise this year -- spend under $500 on my solo fare to save over $1000 on our 2 drink packages next summer). We bring refillable water bottles that we fill using cups at the water station (bring on a 12-pack of waters to bring ashore at ports), our 2 bottles of wine. We may end up buying a drink each some days, but many days, our 4 drinks will be enough to cover us.

Would we get additional drinks (alcoholic or otherwise) if we had the DBX or Refreshment package? Probably. Do we need them? Not really. We'd end up with the fresh squeezed juice and specialty coffee drinks just to get our money's worth. DW drinks regular coffee every day at home (I don't drink coffee at all) and we drink whatever OJ is on sale at the grocery store.

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5 minutes ago, JC Pats said:

My DX purchase depends on 1 thing

Is @Matt going or not?

Now, for those that have partaken in an official OR unofficial group cruise with @Mattyou know how it goes - breakfast, day drinking, lunch, nap, pre-dinner drink(s), dinner, pub/schooner (multiple shots + drink of choice) THEN Casino (multiple shots and drink of choice). On a sea day, probably 12-15 drinks, port days, 8-10 not counting waters/soda. For me, getting the DX is very worth it as I usually end up saving money. 

Now, if it's just me, I'll get the Refreshment package and be ok. 

Good point.  If I'm on a cruise to just get away and live like a Roman emperor for a while (eat drink and be merry) then hitting double digits each day is a forgone conclusion (20+ is not overly difficult for me either).  In that case DX makes sense no matter what level I am.

But if I'm on a cruise for the ports and a more traditional "vacation" experience then just a few each day is sufficient (just like on land based vacations).  This is where the Diamond and up levels come in to play on whether the DX is worth it for me personally.

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14 minutes ago, JC Pats said:

My DX purchase depends on 1 thing

Is @Matt going or not?

Now, for those that have partaken in an official OR unofficial group cruise with @Mattyou know how it goes - breakfast, day drinking, lunch, nap, pre-dinner drink(s), dinner, pub/schooner (multiple shots + drink of choice) THEN Casino (multiple shots and drink of choice). On a sea day, probably 12-15 drinks, port days, 8-10 not counting waters/soda. For me, getting the DX is very worth it as I usually end up saving money. 

Now, if it's just me, I'll get the Refreshment package and be ok. 

Ok you and dr martini are my kind of cruisers. Admittedly as you said , you’re not driving the boat so why not indulge. I’m a power drinker when I cruise, I suspect I’ll always get the DBP even after we hit diamond at the end of this year. Plus I also like specialty coffees and my wife and I only drink San pelegrino when aboard. 
DBP scratches all those itches for me. 

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1 hour ago, WAYNO said:

I also prefer the convenience of the DBP.   But having to pay for two Dx Packages when my Wife doesn't drink AT ALL... Finally makes me take notice of the Diamond 4-drinks and Prime free drinks in the casino.

If she doesn’t drink at all, you can get 8 drinks per day for free using your Diamond drinks and hers then you could buy at least another 6 drinks per day for 14 total per day before hitting the daily cost of the DBP for you and the refreshment package for her 

On our next few cruises, rather than staying in a suite like we usually do …… my spouse and I are doing 2 side by side balcony cabins ….. him and our 10yo son are in 1 cabin …… I’m in the other solo earning us all 2 points per night …….. he’s buying the DBP and I’m having 10 free drinks per day using both our Diamond drinks  ….. win - win LOL 

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On 2/24/2022 at 3:58 PM, Pooch said:

Beer coupons?  Are those different/separate from the Diamond vouchers?

Yes, Diamond includes 50% off any two glasses of wine, beer, or soda when purchased together (one coupon per person) & 20% any glass of wine, beer, or soda (one coupon per person). I don't drink beer and I'm allergic to wine, so DW can use both coupons at some point during the cruise if she chooses. 

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On 2/24/2022 at 3:46 PM, kadmgs said:

We will be diamond at that point and in a GS, so we want to see if the 4 vouchers and suite lounge happy hour are enough. 

Hold up...  Are you saying we get 4 "free drinks" loaded on our card and free drinks in the Diamond Lounge?  If I have four drinks at the pool and then head to the lounge before dinner - do I drink for free while in the lounge?

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1 hour ago, Larry Muster said:

Hold up...  Are you saying we get 4 "free drinks" loaded on our card and free drinks in the Diamond Lounge?  If I have four drinks at the pool and then head to the lounge before dinner - do I drink for free while in the lounge?

No, you get 4 drink vouchers for Diamond loaded on your sea pass card. If you are in a suite, you can go to the suite lounge for complementary beer, wine, or soda from 11am to 11pm. The suite lounge also hosts a happy hour for suite guests from 5:30 to 8pm, time may vary per ship, and the drinks you consume during the suite happy hour do not count against your vouchers. We are in a GS aka Grand Suite, so that's what I meant in my previous post. 

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1 hour ago, Larry Muster said:

Thanks @kadmgs for the clarification.  My next cruise is a Junior Suite level - which does not get me access to the suite lounge I don't think.  But if I were to Royal Up to an official suite, do I get access to the suite lounge even if I got there via RoyalUp?

You are correct. A jr. suite does not get access to the suite lounge. However, a grand suite or above does get you access. The price difference between a jr. suite and a grand suite for this particular sailing was less than the cost of the beverage package, so it was a no brainer for us. 

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